Dogs Barking At Other Dogs At The Dog Park

[Simply Grand]

In the last month or so I have experienced a couple of different dogs (at a couple of different dog parks) barking persistently at other dogs, including mine. In both cases the dogs were small to medium sized and they would approach Saxon (or another dog) a number of times and just stand looking at them going "woof woof woof woof". Saxon isn't particularly confrontational or defensive and he never barks at other dogs so he seemed to just be a bit unsure what was happening and would then try to move away and play with other dogs - while still being barked at. It didn't stop until I called him and we moved to the other side of the park.

The owner of the first dog that did it laughed about it and said something like "oh he's doing it again, haha!" Others I've spoken to have experienced this dog doing the same, to dogs both smaller and larger than he is. In all cases, the owner didn't stop it and the other owners had to take their dogs right away or leave to get it to stop.

The owner of the other dog told me that her dog was saying "run run run" to try and get Saxon to run away so he could chase, but when Saxon did run, or other dogs did, he didn't seem too interested in chasing. Again, the only way to stop it was to move far away.

Also, both owners had a second dog of the same breed (the first had two terriers of some kind, the second two beagles) who didn't bark and seemed less interested in other dogs.

Personally I don't think it's appropriate to let your dog do this and if Saxon had done it and wouldn't stop when I told him I would take him and leave the park. I found it really irritating to hear the constant barking, and felt like it was aggressive towards Saxon, although no fighting or anything followed.

What do others think - why might the dogs be doing this, and would you try to stop it if it was your dog?

[dee lee]

I hate it when this happens.

Oh the joys of dog parks and people who cant be stuffed to teach their dogs basic manners.

I would certainly try to stop my dog doing this! I really dont understand why others think it is ok.

There is a tiny terrier type mutt at the park I go to, the owner walks his staffy onlead and lets this little terrierist offlead to harrass all the other dogs!

It rushes any dog they walk past and tries to bite them. I avoid it like the plague.

Im lucky because the park is big and I am able to avoid any other dogs usually.

[Agility Dogs]

TOTALLY out of order IMO. As far as I am concerned dogs should not bark at each other and I won't tolerate it from mine for any reason.

Then again, I won't go to dog parks for any reason because I've just seen FAR too much bad behaviour (both human and canine) in them.

[sandgrubber]

I vote for tolerance. Some idiots have loud car stereos too. I don't like it, but can't be bothered to complain. It's not likely to resolve the situation, and if I concentrate on staying calm, it's no problem.

[W Sibs]

It's bad behaviour.. both dogs and owners who encourage it. I ignore the dogs and owners if they do that. The park I go to, it's big that we can walk away.

Charlie isn't allow to bark at other dogs, so that is why he whines instead He isn't allow to play chasing games either... he is allow to sniff hello to dogs, bounce around a bit.. and then we say our good byes and head somewhere else.

[gila]

It's not necessarily aggression. In some dogs I've seen, it's just part of their playing style. It is very annoying though.

I did know a kelpie x once who barked at dogs to make them move so that she could herd them. If the barking didn't get them moving, she'd nip them!

[Lady Flying Furball]

Well imagine if you have a dog that does bark at other dogs and you haven't worked out yet how to stop it! Some dogs bark more than others; sometimes it takes work to find out what's going on, and decide whether it matters to some degree or not. I get tired of so much judgement on dogs and owners and manners and generalisations

[poodlefan]

Without seeing the interaction, I'd not offer comment. Dogs bark at each other for reasons ranging from inviting play to warning them off.

[RallyValley]

Lincoln will bark at a dog he likes to get attention. I don't allow it outside of my house though. Saying that I can only think of 3 dogs outside my own dogs he 'likes' enough to want thier attention.

[wuffles]

I've never really minded as I always saw it as a fairly normal behaviour I am far from an expert though. And no, my dog doesn't do it!

[Golden Rules]

I vote for tolerance. Some idiots have loud car stereos too. I don't like it, but can't be bothered to complain. It's not likely to resolve the situation, and if I concentrate on staying calm, it's no problem.

Lincoln will bark at a dog he likes to get attention. I don't allow it outside of my house though. Saying that I can only think of 3 dogs outside my own dogs he 'likes' enough to want thier attention.

My Dougal Dog barks a lot - but only at the park where there are other dogs and people's attention to get. He does it purely to get attention and it annoys the sh!t out of me. But everyone gives him attention to shut him up or I roar at him to 'Sssshhh!' which lasts all of a few minutes

While it is irritating and I don't encourage it, I do think a little tolerance wouldn't go astray, there are far worse behaviours we could have to put up with.

[corvus]

Erik is an extremely noisy little dog and he will bark at other dogs if they are playing. He's a herder. It's what he does. Dance around on the outskirts barking and trying to nip ankles or tails. He gets thoroughly ignored. He stops barking if he gets involved in chasing or wrestling games directly. No one has ever seemed bothered by it and if I ever saw a dog bothered by it I'd put him back on leash.

We have met the odd dog that will see ours and just come over alert barking at them. This is pretty confrontational on the neutral ground of a dog park. My boys don't really like it, but they usually stay away. I say usually because Erik is 8 months old and does something new about a dozen times a day. I wouldn't be surprised if he barked back.

I don't think alert barking or giving warning barks at dog parks is the behaviour of a well socialised dog, but barking in excitement is not uncommon and while it sometimes bothers dogs if it's very intense, IME it mostly gets ignored.

[grabit]

Well imagine if you have a dog that does bark at other dogs and you haven't worked out yet how to stop it! Some dogs bark more than others; sometimes it takes work to find out what's going on, and decide whether it matters to some degree or not. I get tired of so much judgement on dogs and owners and manners and generalisations

I do agree with this somewhat,( i am having problems with my dogs manners atm ) however i do find that a simple "sorry" for my dogs (very) bad behavior goes a long way, most owners in my experience, are happy to tolerate bad behaviour around their dogs providing that it is not going to cause a fight or injury to their dog and that something is being done to correct the behaviour

[Mooper]

It's not necessarily aggression. In some dogs I've seen, it's just part of their playing style. It is very annoying though.

I have one of those. He rarely makes a sound at home, unless a stranger comes to the door and I'm home alone. But put him in the car or take him to the park, and he will bark. We've worked on it for six years now, having got him at 4 years of age, and I'm not sure it's made a jot of difference. He barks out of frustration when other (smarter ;) ) dogs swim and he can't follow them, or when another dog gets too close, or when he wants to play.

If we go to the dog park, we only go in if no other dogs are there (winter is the best time for us to go to the park ) and we leave if others arrive.

[Lady Flying Furball]

Well imagine if you have a dog that does bark at other dogs and you haven't worked out yet how to stop it! Some dogs bark more than others; sometimes it takes work to find out what's going on, and decide whether it matters to some degree or not. I get tired of so much judgement on dogs and owners and manners and generalisations

I do agree with this somewhat,( i am having problems with my dogs manners atm ) however i do find that a simple "sorry" for my dogs (very) bad behavior goes a long way, most owners in my experience, are happy to tolerate bad behaviour around their dogs providing that it is not going to cause a fight or injury to their dog and that something is being done to correct the behaviour

But why is it assumed to be "bad" behaviour, or something that needs correcting?? Are dogs destined to be silent beings on this planet (excuse the drama)?? Small dogs bark, and I believe and see that it is often their way of making themselves bigger, holding their space, just as say working dogs may bark as part of their herding behaviour. Is it being "annoying" to us enough to say that if it isn't stopped the owner or dog are at fault?

[Simply Grand]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I was interested to hear what might be motivating the behaviour, and I see it could be a whole range of things. Neither of these owners was actively trying to stop the behaviour so from what I could tell it wasn't something they saw as a problem and were trying to stop. I wasn't planning on complaining to the owners either, if they find it acceptable for their dog to do it, and they don't cause any harm to my dog, then it's really just something I find annoying, and in that case I will just move away.

As Sax is only 8 months old, he probably still has lots of new behaviours ahead of him, so if he starts barking like this I'll now know that it could be because of lots of reasons. I'd still work on stopping it though.

Thanks again!

[twodoggies2001]

Well imagine if you have a dog that does bark at other dogs and you haven't worked out yet how to stop it! Some dogs bark more than others; sometimes it takes work to find out what's going on, and decide whether it matters to some degree or not. I get tired of so much judgement on dogs and owners and manners and generalisations

I do agree with this somewhat,( i am having problems with my dogs manners atm ) however i do find that a simple "sorry" for my dogs (very) bad behavior goes a long way, most owners in my experience, are happy to tolerate bad behaviour around their dogs providing that it is not going to cause a fight or injury to their dog and that something is being done to correct the behaviour

But why is it assumed to be "bad" behaviour, or something that needs correcting?? Are dogs destined to be silent beings on this planet (excuse the drama)?? Small dogs bark, and I believe and see that it is often their way of making themselves bigger, holding their space, just as say working dogs may bark as part of their herding behaviour. Is it being "annoying" to us enough to say that if it isn't stopped the owner or dog are at fault?

It's not only small dogs that bark, although I have two mini schnauzers, and yes they do bark when they approach the park because they are excited, and I see it as the way they express themselves. Heavens above, you can't keep quiet all the time and they also want to talk to their 'friends' just as we do. Let's just call it child's play. It's not bad behaviour.

[Simply Grand]

It's not only small dogs that bark, although I have two mini schnauzers, and yes they do bark when they approach the park because they are excited, and I see it as the way they express themselves. Heavens above, you can't keep quiet all the time and they also want to talk to their 'friends' just as we do. Let's just call it child's play. It's not bad behaviour.

Twodoggies, I wasn't talking about barking in general, when dogs are excited for example. The question was specifically about a dog standing still looking at my dog and continually barking. I'm certainly not bothered by a bit of excited barking from dogs!

[fbaudry]

I hate it when this happens.

Oh the joys of dog parks and people who cant be stuffed to teach their dogs basic manners.

I would certainly try to stop my dog doing this! I really dont understand why others think it is ok.

There is a tiny terrier type mutt at the park I go to, the owner walks his staffy onlead and lets this little terrierist offlead to harrass all the other dogs!

It rushes any dog they walk past and tries to bite them. I avoid it like the plague.

Im lucky because the park is big and I am able to avoid any other dogs usually.

Deelee,

Light brown Am-staff type female and grey and white scruffy little mutt whose owner appear to be a painter?

I think I know who you are talking about! Why haven't I bumped into you yet ? We seem to be going to the same parks....

There is another one at Moore Park who is terribly annoying... A black shepherd cross who, for the past five years has been rushing up to me and Olaf, hackles up and barking in a very aggro manner. Olaf never flinched and kept on walking with me acting as a bareer, but with scaredy-cat hyper Archie it's another story. Because of that Archie pretty much only gets walks around the neighbourood in the evening because I don't want to take the risk.

I can't believe they keep on letting their dog off leash when they know it's gonna happen... they eventually call him back, saying "X, No Bark! Bad dog" , and was told as a way of apology once that he only did this to spaniels because he didn't like them.

[dee lee]

I hate it when this happens.

Oh the joys of dog parks and people who cant be stuffed to teach their dogs basic manners.

I would certainly try to stop my dog doing this! I really dont understand why others think it is ok.

There is a tiny terrier type mutt at the park I go to, the owner walks his staffy onlead and lets this little terrierist offlead to harrass all the other dogs!

It rushes any dog they walk past and tries to bite them. I avoid it like the plague.

Im lucky because the park is big and I am able to avoid any other dogs usually.

Deelee,

Light brown Am-staff type female and grey and white scruffy little mutt whose owner appear to be a painter?

I think I know who you are talking about! Why haven't I bumped into you yet ? We seem to be going to the same parks....

There is another one at Moore Park who is terribly annoying... A black shepherd cross who, for the past five years has been rushing up to me and Olaf, hackles up and barking in a very aggro manner. Olaf never flinched and kept on walking with me acting as a bareer, but with scaredy-cat hyper Archie it's another story. Because of that Archie pretty much only gets walks around the neighbourood in the evening because I don't want to take the risk.

I can't believe they keep on letting their dog off leash when they know it's gonna happen... they eventually call him back, saying "X, No Bark! Bad dog" , and was told as a way of apology once that he only did this to spaniels because he didn't like them.

YES!!!! I keep wanting to say to the guy- "I think you have the wrong dog onlead." It is out of control!

I know that big black dog- it is a big PITA!! Not fair its restricted your walks- oh and he is full of crap, its bullied a Honey a couple of times. Maybe she looks like a big spaniel?

We must be ships passing in the night! (well it feels like night since its dark now at 6.30am )

Next time I go I'll be the one wearing a pink carnation.